OS X: Getting rid of Dashboard

How to permanently* remove Dashboard in OS X Mavericks.

Now more than ever, Apple’s Dashboard feels redundant.

When Apple first announced Dashboard Widgets, it was sort of revolutionary to me; all of these mini-apps, adding functionality and usability to my computer with a tap. However, with the numerous innovations that have come about since multi-touch and iOS, Dashboard seems like a slow, unnecessary relic of OSX’s past.

Dashboard was designed before multi-touch mice and trackpad gestures, and was an innovation prior to the iPhone. But it’s still built into the latest Mac OS X release, Mavericks.

Don’t want it anymore? I didn’t. Why have something around that I’m not going to use that just slows down my computer and eats up bandwidth? Here’s how to kill it. Note: you need admin privileges.

Step one: Open Terminal.

Add the following line of code:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean true

Two: Relaunch.

Add the next line:

killall Dock

Three DONE!

Now, Dashboard is finally a thing of the past.

Widgets are mini-apps. iPhone is a mini-computer.

I understand that some people will still benefit from Dashboard, I don’t need a list of reasons why it’s still valid. There are a number of really cool widgets available. Just nothing that I can’t do faster with Safari or more conveniently on my iPad or iPhone, devices that are always right next to me and can function as a second screen, mini-computer. Siri can do just about everything that standard widgets do (I can’t at the moment think of something I’d do with a widget that I can’t just tell my phone to do for me), without changing to a separate space or obscuring my main screen.

Not really permanent.

* However, sometimes we change our minds about things. If you need to bring Dashboard back, simply change true to false —

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean false

Don’t forget!

killall Dock

Dashboard should now be back.

If you like this sort of post or it helps you out, please let me know!

I feel like I shouldn’t have to write this (but lest it become a problem somehow)…

You modify settings on your system at your own risk. Please don’t blame me if something goes wrong or doesn’t work on your system — I’m not there, I don’t know what happened. I’m basically just passing along information that helped me.

Merry Christmas!

Too many people saying Happy Holidays. On Christmas. What’s with that?

It’s a national holiday here, and according to a recent poll, 9/10 American families celebrate it in some way, so why all the reluctance to just say Merry Christmas? Seems like tolerance and political correctness is a one-way street.

This time of year, and this day, I think is an important time to reflect on family and friends, the year as a whole, and dreams and ambitions for the coming new year. For people working retail, it’s doubly stressful, as the hectic shopping rush leading up to Christmas is overwhelming, chaotic and emotionally draining. A lot of people are running around sick, too… and got Stephanie sick with this horrible cough and aches.

And then she got me sick.

So here I am, trying to make the most of it, and I’m in front of my computer (that I somewhat reluctantly upgraded to OS X 10.9 Mavericks because of all the glowing reviews published on the major tech blogs), and I find out today that my Boot Camp Windows drive is entirely broken and unreadable. I read about it online, and it seems like the best course of action is to delete, repartition and reinstall… and everyone keeps saying backup, backup, backup like a mantra.

The thing is, with the cloud and online backups, there’s really not much to “save.” Everything is already, has already been saved, platform agnostic. The major problem? Reinstalling the apps. Mostly really large ones. I think I’m going to wait to tackle this problem. Too stressful.

Should clean out the OSX side of things, first. Lots of files to tag and rearrange. My big I’m sick Christmas Project that I probably can’t finish by 2014. I know it seems like minor annoyances, but when you’re dealing with years of chronic pain and physical problems, every little minor annoyance becomes extra stress that seems to compound and exacerbate the real issues.

But, I’m going to try to focus on the positives. I think that that’s a good practice, insofar as it’s within reality and reasonably objective. Hopefully I won’t be sick (this time) for long!

Again. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Stay warm and safe.

Removing Apps From Launchpad

I prefer the Dock on the left to maximize vertical space.

Mac OS X Lion & Mountain Lion make Apple computers more like their iOS devices, but this isn’t always a good thing.

Apple’s Lions are pretty — there’s no denying that. However, in adding simplicity, Apple has limited functionality and control. In an attempt to make Mac OSX more user-friendly, Apple has hidden files and features. The multitouch trackpad and Launchpad make Macs function more like iPhones and iPads — the problem is that desktops and notebooks are more complex than their bite-sized brethren.

Want full control of your Launchpad?

"Too bad" seems to be the Apple response. According to Apple, you can rearrange icons and remove Mac App Store apps only. [To remove App Store apps, either click and hold over the app icon (similar to the iOS process of removing/re-arranging apps) or hold the “alt option” key. Click "X." To add any app to Launchpad, drag & drop the app from Finder onto the Launchpad icon (located on your Dock).]

But what if you want to remove an app without an “X”?

Since Apple won’t help, I will!

First, if you’ve used Mac OS prior to Lion, you’ll notice the absence of the Library folder. Apple decided that people don’t need to be bothered with such things and hid it. If you want to view it again, open Terminal.app, located in /Applications/Utilities. Copy/Paste the following:

chflags nohidden ~/Library

Like magic, Library will now appear in Finder. (Note: Before you go modifying your Launchpad, you may want to backup its current setup. To do that, backup the .db file located in /Library/Application Support/Dock)

If you want to remove ALL items from Launchpad, you can follow this guide at gnuu.org This might be best if you have a lot of clearing to do.

However, if you just want to remove some apps from Launchpad…

Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and use the following;

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps WHERE title='APPNAME';" && killall Dock

REPLACING APPNAME with the name of the app you want to remove from Launchpad. For example, if I wanted to remove Reminders, I would open Terminal and enter:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db "DELETE from apps WHERE title='Reminders';" && killall Dock

Note: This won’t delete the app, it just removes it from Launchpad.

Hopefully this helps you!

If it has, please leave a comment and consider liking my Says Brad Facebook page to keep in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

There are a lot of third-party apps out there for Dock, Desktop, Library and Launchpad management, but frankly, I don’t trust them; many aren’t free or are ad-supported, created by people I’ve never heard of. Not saying that they’re all illegitimate, but I can’t be certain. Luckily, a little Terminal magic can solve the bulk of your OSX issues. I’m an iOS guru (lol), not an OSX expert, but feel free to ask if you have questions — if I can help, I will.

Legacy of Steve Jobs

I was going to write about my Disneyland trip, or maybe about the iPhone 4S and Siri, but on Wednesday, an icon, a tech hero died. This you know, of course, because Steve Jobs was that important. Millions of lives have been made better by his inventions, and his passion brought technology to market that has reshaped the world. We operate differently because of iDevices, whether you own one or not. Multitouch displays, app stores... MP3 players replacing CD players. The iPad saved tablets from obscurity, and Steve proved that you can defy the status quo and succeed against opposition.

And then there's Pixar. A generation of children grew up watching their computer animated films, and the success of those movies has reshaped Disney — and perhaps storytelling, in general.

I can imagine some of the great things Steve Jobs could have accomplished with more time, but one of the most amazing things about him is that he created things we can't imagine. As a child, I never dreamed that one day, I might have a Star Trek device in my pocket. If you think about what the iPhone 4 is compared to the first iPhone, and compare that to the Palm Treo and other "smartphones" that preceded it, you can see how far things have come.

For me, the iPhone and iPad have been life-changing. Both devices enhance what I do in such simple yet amazing ways, and both are so intuitive and natural, they seem like extensions of thought, or extra limbs. The iPad has replaced my desktop and notebook computers — it does just about everything that I need to do. I also use it as a notebook, sketchbook and journal. And with the iPhone 4S and Siri, I'll have a phone that's one step away from sentience. I was thinking about getting the Infiniti Personal Assistant service, but in a few weeks, I'll have something just as good, built into the handset.

Of course, much of the brilliance of iOS belongs to the software itself and app developers, but having spoken to many app creators, I know that iOS was built to be powerful and easy to create for. iTunes and the App Store are both brilliant tools. iTunes has done amazing things for musicians, authors and programmers.

Steve Jobs created a company that makes my life better, and more fun. He influenced me more than any movie star, storyteller or US President. I've never loved a phone or tablet until I bought one made by Apple.

It's hard to know where to begin or end this. I'll have to add more thoughts later. I'm often compared to Vulcans, but news of Steve's death made me teary-eyed after the initial shock and disbelief. I suppose I'm still trying to process the loss. That's incredible by itself.